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Combat Marine Outdoors benefit to help wounded vets

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In the blink of an eye, sometimes preceded by a flash and loud explosion, the lives of young soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan can be changed forever.

Their hopes of returning to a normal existence after their service to the nation are often as shattered as their wounded bodies.

Working to help them experience at least part of their once normal lifestyle will be the goal of a group of outdoor enthusiasts who are expected to come out in force Dec. 10 at San Antonio’s National Shooting Complex for a .22 caliber “Plink Fest” to benefit the Combat Marine Outdoors organization.

“These veterans don’t want anyone to feel sorry for them. They just want to be able to operate independently,” said Art Garcia, vice president of the Houston-based group that was organized in 2005 and began by offering wounded veterans at Brooke Army Medical Center an opportunity to accelerate their recovery through outdoor activities.

“We help them realize that their wounds do not limit their activities. They are able to function better than you and I, in some cases. In just three days on one of our trips, they are able to feel like they are in their comfort zone again.”

The CMO conducts about 100-120 hunting and fishing trips for wounded veterans each year, in addition to about 100 other events where military members from all branches of the Armed Forces being treated at about 20 different hospitals are provided outdoor activities.

Garcia added that events such as the Plink Fest provide a vehicle to demonstrate to the war heroes that thousands of patriotic Americans truly care about them and are willing to show their appreciation and support by providing them with once-in-a-lifetime outdoor adventures.

“These guys will be smiling from ear to ear and do a lot of whooping and hollering when they are on a trip,” said Garcia, who is also a master gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. “They feel like they are on top of the world.”

Proceeds from the Plink Fest will help the CMO provide wounded veterans with the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities such as donated hunting and fishing trips.

The event, which is being billed as a fun shoot rather than a high-pressure competition, will feature knockdown steel action plates and self-setting, self-healing polymer Varmint Targets on six different stages at the NSC pistol and rifle range in western Bexar County.

Targets will be presented to provide quality practice for the average “plinker” who likes to go out and hone his or her small game hunting or firing range skills. There will be three stages for .22 caliber pistols and three stages for .22 caliber rifles. Targets will be set up at various ranges to challenge the shooting skills of both beginner and veteran shooters.

The benefit will also mark the first major showcase of the Varmint Targets, made in Marshall, featuring motorized self-healing polymer prairie dog targets that fall and reset after being hit.

“I’m for doing whatever we can possibly do for these guys,’’ said Larry Spikes of Fabriman Specialties of Marshall, who has been developing the Varmint Targets for the past several years. “These soldiers have done more for us than we can ever repay.”

Spikes said his company would provide about 25 targets for the event to offer .22-caliber shooters a fun and entertaining opportunity to spend some quality range time.

“I’ve been fine-tuning these targets for about eight to nine years after I decided to make a new style target for people to have more fun at the range,” Spikes said. “We have some in Colorado, Wyoming, California and at the American Shooting Center in Houston. All the target shooters are crazy about them because the targets hold up so well and reset after they are hit.

“One of our targets had 700 holes in it and was still working fine. That really shows people can have a lot of fun with a self-healing, knock-down target that resets itself.”

An entry fee of $75 per person covers the entire course of six stages, including loaner firearms and ammunition, if needed, with winners of each stage and the high overall winner to receive donated prizes or gift cards.

Practice reshoots will be available for $10 per stage after the event.